General Knowledge and World Information
This page covers basic information about the world, its cultures and inhabitants. Most intelligent have a basic grasp of the knowledge on this page. For a detailed history see here. For further information on the setting and its cosmology see here. (Will add links soon) 'Time' The Year Today most cultures use a 300 day year, split into 10 months, each 30 days long, and split into six 5 day weeks. Each month is named in honour of a God, apart from the tenth month which originally honoured The Raven Queen. When she fell out of favour and her true name was lost in the mists of time, the tenth month was renamed 'Decantion' ('tenth month'). Month names are almost universal as nearly all modern cultures worship the same Gods. Peoples who worship evil Gods are generally not intelligent enough to create a calender and those that are generally use the standard calender so trading with neighbours is possible. The names of the months are as follows: 1) Kadron 2) Morath 3) Corenn - Spring Equinox 6th 4) Melorine 5) Pelos - Summer Solstice 21st 6) Ioun 7) Bahat 8) Senir - Autumn Equinox - 6th 9) Erathos 10) Decantion - Winter Solstice 21st Although each culture names the days of the week according to its language, the days of the week in the common tongue are as follows: 1) Sunday 2) Moonday 3) Midweek 4) Starday 5) Freeday The fifth day is a universal holiday. Only tavern owners continue to work to take advantage of the sudden influx of customers. Equinoxes and solstices are also public holidays for religious reasons. Dating Systems Throughout the ages different empires and peoples have designed different dating systems. Each usually traces its first year to the foundation of the empire. The most common dating systems are as follows: BBT/ABT - Before/After Bael Turath BA/AA - Before/After Arkhosia BN/AN - Before/After Nerath BTS/ATS - Before/After The Sundering (used for rough dating only) BHRS/HRS - Before HRS/Human Record System The Human Record System (HRS) was a significant effort by the scholars of Bael Turath to unite history under a single dating system. It was unsuccessful at the time due to the apparent permanence of their empire, but since then its usage has spread and it was adopted as the official universal dating system in the time of the Empire of Nerath less than 100 years ago. Since then scholars have made an effort to date everything under HRS but have had some difficulty in doing so due to the vast variety of dating systems used in original source material. As far as possible, this wiki will either use HRS or BTS/ATS for simplicity. Timekeeping The day is split into 24 hours, exactly as in our world. The average peasant works from dawn until dusk and has no need or means of accurate time keeping. The most common clock is the sundial, water clocks known as clepsydra and candles with marked intervals are also used. From these, hourglasses of varying times are made for the timing of tasks. Hourglasses are rarely used to tell the time of day. For practical purposes, as no one works during the night, there is no need for timekeeping in this period. For this reason, most cultures measure hours after dawn, although some do use a 24 hour system. So, for example, in the summer, the first hour after dawn would be roughly 5am in our time. Major settlements have a town bell that is rung once for the first hour, twice for the second hour and so on. Wealthy nobles have access to innacurate mechanical clocks that operate by using a slowly descending weight to drive a series of metal cogs and move a single hand on the clockface. There is no accurate way to measure short periods of time such as minutes or seconds and even mechanical clocks can gain or lose up to half an hour every day. 'Races' Dragonborn '- Dragonborn are the remnants of the once great empire of Arkhosia. Arkhosia (along with Bael Turath) was one of the first major empires to arise after The Sundering. It prospered for many years and its time is considered the golden age of dragonborn. But the dragonborn's sense of honour was their downfall. Seeing the humans of Bael Turath make pacts with devils caused Arkhosia to declare war on it for breaking their ancient laws of justive, honour and war. The war ultimately resulted in the downfall of both empires. The dragonborn scattered and mostly settled among humans although some remnants of Arkhosia still remain in the form of colonies unaffected by the war. For dragonborn honour is more important than life. Proving themselves in battle is something all dragonborn aspire to. For this reason there are many dragonborn adventurers. However, as in the war with Bael Turath, this can be their downfall. Dragonborn mature much faster than humans, they walk hours after hatching, are the equivelant of a 10 year old after three years and reach adulthood at 15. They then go on to live just as long as humans '''Drow '- Drow, also known as Dark Elves were once from the same race of elves as Eladrin and Elves when they first entered the World from the Feywild. However, they began to worship Lolth, the Spider Queen. The neighbouring elven empires declared war on them, starting a series of bloody conflicts known as the Crown Wars. These culminated in the Drow being driven into the subterranean underdark where they continued to worship Lolth and became an evil race with dark skin and fiery red, blue or lavender eyes. They otherwise share the same physical properties and aging process as Elves. Their societies are hierarchically structured, with the wealthiest families ruling and others following. The wealthiest families are invariably lead by female priests of Lolth who charge extortianate taxes in Lolth's name predominantly for their own personal use. Their society is therefore an extremely decadent one. Drow adventurers are those who have excaped this strict society and its laws or been outlawed for breaking them. Lolth encourages disputes and conflict between Drow empires, this creates many refugees fleeing back up to the World above. Most Drow adventurers therefore hate laws and rulers and try to avoid being ruled by anyone. They also tend to continue the decadent lifestyle they grew up with. Most other races will view even the kindest Drow with fear or distrust because of their background. 'Dwarves '- Dwarves were once the most wealthy and prosperous race in the World. They horded wealth in impregnable mountain strongholds. But soon others came to know of their wealth and set out to take it for themselves. Goblins, orcs, dragons and other evil creatures assaulted their strongholds. The dwarves were too proud to accept aid from their human and elven neighbours so one by one their fortresses fell. Only a few still remain in dwarven control although many are currently inhabited by goblins and orcs. Dwarves have a hatred of those who destroyed their homes stronger than any other race in the World. They are now usually found in tight knit communities in human towns, commonly having their own district. They mature at the same rate as humans but can go on to live to 200 years in relative health. They are shorter and stockier than humans. Dwarves are deeply pious and nearly all honour deities according to their walk of life. Although they honour Moradin as their creator. '''Eladrin - Eladrin, also known as High Elves are the oldest and noblest of all elves. They predominantly make their homes in the Feywild and view the World with scorn, however, some Eladrin choose to live in the World out of a sense of adventure, curiosity or responsibility towards other races in peril. Their cities are clusters of towering spires glinting in the sunlight. Some Eladrin cities exist in both the World and the Feywild, moving between the two by worldfall every night or on a seasonal basis. The oldest Eladrin see the word as a meaningless distraction full of meddlesome lesser races, but younger Eladrin reject such narrow-minded views and see the growing evil in the World. Their politics and etiquette are extremely complex and other races find it difficult to navigate them. They mature at the same rate as humans, but then live to over 300 years old in relative health. Elves - Elves, also known as Wood Elves live in camps or small settlements in woods across the world. They originate from the Feywild, the first elves arrived thousands of years before The Sundering when the word was still young. Since then, the elves have separated, forming different cultures or even new races. They feel a strong connection with ancient or wild areas, reminiscent of their original home. As such, elves are willing to fight to protects ancient trees or sacred groves and hate creatures such as goblins or orcs that destroy these areas. They generally separate themselves from other societies and prefer to live alone in the wood. They mature at the same rate as humans but generally live until over 200. They show few signs of age save a darkening of he hair and remain vigorous right up to their death. Half-Elves '''- Half-Elves are the natural product of alliances and friendship between humans and elves. As such they have little meaningful history as they first came into the World late in its lifetime. In more recent years, common enemies have brought humans and elves closer together than ever so half-elves are become incresingly common. They share characteristics of both humans and elves, for example, although they live for about as long as humans, they remain vigorous well into old age. They are open-minded and empathetic, easily able to put themselves in other's shoes. They are natural wanderers and as such make good adventurers. But most of all their versatility makes them excellent survivors. There are very few half-elf only settlements, instead half-elves generally live alongside humans, elves or other civilised races. Most half-elves are the product of a human and elf union, but the can also reproduce among themselves. '''Halflings- Halflings are roughly half the height of humans, apart from this they share the same characteristics. There have never been and likely never will be halfling empires, even halfling villages are few and far between. However, halflings are numerous and mostly live in human settlements. They favour river travel for its speed and relative safety, some halfling communities even make their homes on islands in the middle of large rivers. Most halflings are wanderers, they trade with races across the World. However, they are commonly misunderstood, most dwarves view them as pickpockets, cutthroats and thieves, elves and eladrin view them as itinerant wanderers while humans see them as children to be cared for. Despite this, halflings have survived and flourished while great empires have crumbed around them. They are a cheerful people, slow to anger and quick to laugh, few are evil although they do not share the sense of righteousness or goodness that many humans do. They have no written history or schooling and instead remember past events through storytelling and word of mouth. Despite this, many halfling tales have a strong basis in fact. 'Half-Orcs '- Half-Orcs are the product of unions between humans and orcs. They were first created along frontier human settlements, in the past, the result of rape. As orcs came rampaging through human settlements, half-orcs were born. In later years, humans and orcs have had to unite to face ancient and more deadly threats in the growing evil of the World. Half-Orcs conbine the strength, speed and agression of orcs with the resourcefulness and boldness of humans. Half-Orcs generally live as virtual outcasts on the brink of frontier settlements, among humans and orcs. They are quick to accept challenges to their strength although they are restrained slightly by their human cunning. They see their agression as a gift and do not attempt to suppress it. Half-Orc only settlements are rare, although inbreeding is possible. Instead they live in other societies. They are distrusted by most races and seen as outlandinh brutes. Religion In the setting Gods do exist, however they have lost touch with mortals somewhat to the extent that there is no longer any empirical evidence for thre existence save perhaps items imbued with holy power that could just as easily be the product of magic as the work of a God. Despite this, worship of the Gods is still widespread if not common. Most peope pay their respects to deities and turn to them in times of discomfort or danger. Farmers might pray to Pelor for a good harvest, paladins to Bahumut for strength in battle. Shrines and temples stay open long hours most days of the week, only closing on Freeday. Services are held on varying days of the week depending on the god worshipped, these are fairly well attended but most people are not regular temple-goers. Essentially, the average person is skeptical as to the existence of Gods but will occasionally worship them out of tradition. Prayer to the Gods will rarely grant in-game benefits. Gods commonly worshipped or known are: Bahamut (Lawful good; Justice, honour, nobility, protection; good dragons) Moradin (Lawful good; Creation, artisans, family; dwarves) Avandra (Good; Change, luck, trade, travel) Pelor (Good; Sun, summer, agriculture, time) Corellon (Unaligned; Arcane magic, spring, beauty, the arts; elves and eladrin) Erathis (Unaligned; Civilization, invention, laws) Ioun (Unaligned; Knowledge, prophecy, skill) Kord (Unaligned; Storms, strength, battle) Melora (Unaligned; Wilderness, sea) The Raven Queen (Unaligned; Death, fate, winter) Sehanine (Unaligned; Trickery, moon, love, autumn; elves) Asmodeus (Evil; Power, domination, tyranny; devils) Bane (Evil; War, conquest) Gruumsh (Chaotic evil; Turmoil, destruction; orcs) Lolth (Chaotic evil; Spiders, shadows, lies; drow) Tharizdun (Chaotic evil; Annihilation, madness) Tiamat (Evil; Wealth, greed, vengeance; evil dragons) Torog (Evil; Underdark, imprisonment) Vecna (Evil; Undeath, secrets) Zehir (Evil, Darkness, poison, serpents) Category:Official Pages Category:World Backstory